Evaluation of MR Breast Coil on Axillary Lymph Nodes

Objective To study the MRI features of normal and abnormal axillary lymph nodes so as to explore the evaluation of MR breast coil on metastasis of axillary lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer before operation.Methods MR scanning was made on 119 axillas from 24 healthy volunteers,23 patients with benign breast disease and 43 patients with breast cancer with MR breast coil.The shape,border,size,number and signal intensity of axillary lymph nodes in every group were comparatively studied.The features of the axillary lymph nodes of the patients with breast cancer were compared with the histopathologic results.Results Axillary lymph nodes were detected in 15 out of the 48 healty volunteer axillas (31.25%).The shape,border,size,number and signal intensity of axillary lymph nodes had no significant difference between the patients with benign breast disease and the patients with breast cancer with no metastasis lymph nodes (LN-)and the healthy volunteers.The shape,border,size,and enhancement pattern of the patients with axillary lymph nodes metastasis(LN+)were statistically different from that of the above mentioned three groups.Conclusion MRI is an effective method to evaluate the status of axillary lymph nodes before operation.It provides useful evidences for clinical operation and treatment.